Intersecting Issues Involving Asylum in the United States and Cases Arising Under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

The issue of immigration status has become the focal point in some cases arising under the 1980 Hague Convention on Child Abduction. Asylum claims affect both substantive and procedural issues that are presented to state and federal courts. A nexus has developed between undocumented immigrants who are parties to a Hague case, and issues of habitual residence, acclimatization, and grave risk. Asylum claims have forced courts to consider the viability of such claims, requests for stay of Hague cases pending the outcome of asylum claims, the likelihood of deportation, and the effect of grants of asylum on the particular issues in the case. Where asylum has been granted to either a parent or child, substantial consideration has been given to the asylum determination by the court hearing the Hague case. Practitioner's Keypoints: The impact of immigration status on the claim that a child is "settled" in the new environment.The likelihood that a stay of a Hague case will be granted if an asylum claim is pending.The impact of the strength of the asylum case.Differences among federal circuits on the significance of immigration status on questions of habitual residence and settlement of a child under Article 12.The weight to be given to a grant of asylum in a Hague case.The precedence of Orders in Hague Convention cases over immigration decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]